V8 Column for March 2007

TWIN EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR THE RV8

Clive Wheatley has developed a twin exhaust system for the RV8 which was on display at Stoneleigh on Sunday 25th February 2007. Clive offers an installation service which involves relocating the fuel tank. Certainly the twin exhausts raised a great deal of interest at Stoneleigh and many RV8 members were clearly considering the modification.
Hear the twin exhaust.

ZT/ZTT 260 V8 INFORMATION & SUPPORT
As we are getting an increasing flow of ZT/ZT 260 V8 enthusiasts registering with the V8 Register so it seems a good time to try and get the type of supportive group activity going that we have had for the MGBGTV8 for almost 30 years and for the RV8 since the mid 1990s. We are intending launching a series of workshop notes for the ZT & ZTT 260 V8 model along the lines of the two successful series we have for the MGBGTV8 and the RV8. Do get in touch if you would like to contribute a service or spares tip for the series, or you can post a brief note on the V8BB. On the V8 website you will see a navy blue navigation button "ZT 260 V8 Support and Information" has been added on the LHS amongst the buttons to the core webpages, so that will help both existing and prospective members find it easily. The link is: www.v8register.net/ztt260v8support.htm

DISTRIBUTOR OPTIONS FOR THE MGBGTV8
Gordon Hesketh-Jones (Harvest Gold 1907) from Cornwall uses his car all the year round and with a total mileage now rapidly approaching 400,000 has a

great deal of experience of maintaining the model from his regular servicing work and numerous rebuilds. One regular service difficulty is with worn distributors, so he set about some research into the options for the V8 which forms V8NOTE365.

An efficient distributor is clearly at the very heart of an engine and now that our cars are 30 or more years old, age will take its toll. An additional problem is the quality of the contact sets and condensers now sold - even if they have a famous name on the box - seems abysmally low. On my car over the past two years three different sets of contacts have lasted less than 1,500 miles before developing "pips" and in one case, the fixed contact stud "un-riveted" itself leading to a very variable spark effect! So it seems that, whether I like the idea or not, I have to go for an electronic add-on to the distributor in some form just to get away from the points and condensers.

If your distributor has covered more than 100K miles there will certainly be wear on the pinion, the shaft, or the bearings. If any one of these is badly worn, or if all three are slightly worn, the result will be erratic firing of the plugs. This random output from the distributor shows up very clearly on a Crypton or similar engine analyser. Even on my current Holden distributor, which has done less than 34K miles since the rebuild, the outline of the trace on the Crypton screen is fuzzy and slightly curved instead of being sharp and straight, indicating that one of the three wear points was probably not replaced - the pinion, bearing or shaft.

Gordon's research, together with comments from fellow members with their experiences with electronic ignitions systems for the V8, has been published as a new V8 Workshop Note. A full copy of that note will be included in the four page V8 Newsletter in the April issue of Safety Fast!